Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Poor in drylands to suffer even more

"Agriculture in the Middle East is likely to suffer losses because of high temperature, droughts, floods and soil degradation threatening the food security of many countries in the region, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations said in a statement issued on Monday.The organisation says that hunger and malnutrition caused by climate change will most probably affect those who are already poor, malnourished or dependent on local food production, according to a report that will be discussed at the FAO Regional Conference for the Near East held in Cairo, Egypt.

FAO says that the Middle East and North Africa are particularly exposed to water shortages and thus an additional 155 to 600 million people may suffer an increase in water stress in North Africa with a three degree Celsius temperature rise."